Trip notes...

There is a diner in Edison, New Jersey that was fantastic--- "Pantagis Greek Diner."  Delicious food, wonderful desserts (which we didn't have because we were too full after dinner).

Left turns seem to be against the traffic laws in New Jersey.... can't tell you how many No-Left-Turn signs we saw while driving there.  However, the Jersey traffic gods did come up with a solution.... you make a right turn on a cup-handle shaped road which allows you to make a safer left turn, with a traffic light instead of on your own discretion.

The Thomas Edison National Historic Park in West Orange, New Jersey should be on everyone's must-see list. Edison's laboratories were fascinating, and his library was beyond description. I bought a book about Edison there..... "The Wizard of Menlo Park," by Randall Stross.  We couldn't tour Edison's home because it's only open on certain days.... the photographs of that wonderful old house make me want to go there again when the mansion is open for visitors.

We stayed at B&B rooms all along the way during our trip. My advice is to get to your B&B before dark.... most of those rural roads are not brightly lit, tree branches obscure the street signs, and it's hard reading the directions with a flashlight or the little teeny light above the rear-view mirror. (Obviously, our rental car didn't have a GPS.)

In Downingtown, PA, we found "The Olive Tree," another Greek-owned restaurant. Honestly, you can't ever go wrong with Greek restaurants, cafes, diners... the food is always fresh and homemade, the service is usually very good, and they're more than happy to welcome you because they "get it"---- they want you to enjoy your meal, remember their restaurant, and come back the next time you're in town.

We went to The National Christmas Center (somewhere in PA)..... didn't take the tour of the decorated rooms because from the photographs we saw, it wasn't anything so outstanding to merit the cost of admission. Our own home is over-the-top decorated for the holidays, and there's no admission charge.

In York, PA.... another Greek-owned restaurant: "The South York Diner."  Delicious foods, outstanding service, beautiful just-baked desserts that we didn't try--- too full from the meal, plus we had miles to drive to get to Maryland. One of these days, I'm going to just bite the bullet and order a dessert instead of a meal. (Maybe that should have been "bite the cake" instead of the bullet.)

Whenever we travel, I call my husband "The Great Santini."  He prints out a meticulously planned itinerary that includes interesting places to see, highly recommended restaurants for good food, and there's always a surprise or two along the way--- like all the independently owned bookstores he found in the Baltimore
area.

One of those bookstores had two cats, by the way--- one named Sinclair (Lewis), and the other named Pierre (Salinger).  You just can't have a really good nostalgic bookstore without a cat. It's in the rule book somewhere, I'm sure.